Evolvinn Therapy and Consulting was founded to help meet the demand for mental health care that surged during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to grow.
Evolvinn Therapy and Consulting was founded to help meet the demand for mental health care that surged during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to grow.
"I know it sounds counterintuitive..."
A Dysautonomia Treatment Survival Kit: Management of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and other forms of Dysautonomia
A Dysautonomia Treatment Survival Kit: Management of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and other forms of Dysautonomia
It's one thing to dislike heat, but it's something else to have heat intolerance. But what's heat intolerance exactly?
Convalescing must be a four letter word. You woke up today with absolutely no energy in the bank. Which means you’ve already canceled all the plans you had and you know you’re going to be stuck in bed. The only problem? Your mind doesn’t match your body. This is something people with all forms of dysautonomia know all too well. If you have POTS/EDS or another form of dysautonomia you are used to this scenario playing out more than you care to recall. Let’s talk about some low energy ways to keep your mind occupied while your body works on healing. Listen to an audiobook. There are a lot of options and genres of audio books, and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Many local libraries have an online check out process for renting audio books for free. Nothing lets you escape reality more than a good book. Listen to a podcast. Hello, true crime junkies! Podcasts are our jam. If true crime isn’t your thing there are so many topics from history to comedy to storytelling that will keep you entertained for hours. Most podcasts are free to listen to. Youtube TEDTalks. With almost 34 million subscribers to this channel, you know there’s a topic that would interest, inspire, and motivate you for days when you’re able to get out of bed. Wordle. It’s all the craze right now. Wordle is a simple word game where you have five guesses to get to the five letter word of the day. If word games aren’t your thing there are a lot of other free apps available to occupy your mind. Snacks and drinks. Where you’re able, try to keep snacks and drinks by your bed. The best salty and sweet snacks can make the time spent resting better. Let NormaLyte be a consistent companion to your bedside as it can help some of the symptoms of dysautonomia (including fatigue). Connect with a friend online. Reach out to someone you haven’t heard from in a while and strike up a conversation. It’s hard to maintain relationships when you have a chronic illness and limited spoons. Luckily, many people are more than willing to have a little chat and nurture your friendships that way. Listen to music. Close your eyes and give music a try. Find something you wouldn’t normally listen to or maybe some of the old “classics” and give them a listen. You may discover something new you love. Journal. It’s not for everybody, but journaling can be healing in itself. It’s a great way to reflect on yourself and the situations around you. Make lists you can check off later in your journals; places you want to go, movies you want to see, bucket lists, etc. The best part of journaling is that there’s no rules. We purposely didn’t suggest things like sleep and watching television because we know that you get tired of those things. Today may be a bad day, but tomorrow could be better if your body gets the rest it needs today, but if tomorrow requires more rest then that’s okay too. Give yourself some grace while your body works to cooperate with your mind. Drop some of your favorite things to do on low spoon days in the comments below.
How many of these do you relate to?
Ross Hauser, MD In this article Dr. Hauser discusses: Dysautonomia – problems of or dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Its symptoms such as lightheadedness, palpitations, and tremulousness during standing. Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) and its cardio and cardio-like symptoms and conditions. The connection between dysautonomia/POTS with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Joint Hypermobility Syndrome, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, and GI dysfunction. We get many emails from people suffering themselves or with children suffering from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. They are being treated for tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), dizziness, fainting, headaches, vertigo, excessive fatigue, digestive problems including nausea, weight loss. Because …
A Dysautonomia Treatment Survival Kit: Management of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and other forms of Dysautonomia
Here's where you can find support.
Looking to learn how to cure POTS naturally? POTS is one of fifteen Dysautonomias that impact millions world wide. Learn about your options today!
The Chronic Constellation- a look at the collection of co-morbid conditions that we see common in the hypermobile and autistic community.
If you have any form of dysautonomia you are familiar with flares. Let’s back up a minute and talk about what dysautonomia is. What is dysautonomia? Dysautonomia is a dysfunction of the nerves that regulate involuntary body functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and sweating. The word literally stands for DYS - dysfunction, and AUTO - autonomic. It is an umbrella term for a myriad of different diseases, but some of the most common are: postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (or POTS), orthostatic intolerance (OI), orthostatic hypotension, and more. What are chronic illness flares? People with chronic illness have a variety of symptoms. For example, with POTS it’s often fatigue, brain fog, rapid heart rate upon standing, syncope (fainting), pre-syncope (feeling like you’ll faint, or often called dizziness), migraines, and more. A person who is managing their illness well may not have all of these symptoms every day. Maybe it’s just a couple or none at all. When you’re “in a flare” usually the symptoms you’ve been managing are exaggerated. The slight headache you were feeling is now a full on migraine. The fatigue has you unable to leave the bed that day. A flare in the world of chronic illness is an exacerbation of a chronic disease. What causes chronic illness flares? Flares happen when symptoms you’ve been having suddenly show up and seem to be 10x worse than they were. Often, it’s not your fault. Flares can come and go and you may not be able to pinpoint a trigger. And, there’s no use in blaming yourself anyway. Sometimes your body just decides to go haywire despite anything you’ve done right or wrong. Other times flares can be brought on by overdoing something. Maybe you walked too much. Maybe you stayed up too late or ate like crap the day before. Do not blame yourself. It’s your disease that is making you feel this way and you should be able to enjoy life the same way anyone else does. But, you don’t want to live feeling like crap. Here’s some triggers we’ve seen commonly reported by people who have POTS. 6 Triggers for Chronic Illness Flares Heat and Humidity. Most people with chronic illness will tell you that heat can cause flares. If you’re someone with POTS, heat intolerance is often one of the symptoms. You just don’t sweat the way a “normal” person would, and even if you could you lose fluids. Exposure to heat seems to never fail to make your symptoms worse, but luckily there’s easy ways to avoid the heat putting you into a flare. Over exerting yourself or standing too long. Your friends were going to the water park, and you really wanted to join. Or, maybe it was just an evening out listening to music at a local hotspot. A trip to the grocery? Whatever it was, you’ve over exerted yourself. Know the limits to your body and respect them. If you know that you’re not able to avoid an overly physical day you may want to consider additional electrolytes like NormaLyte to keep your hydration levels up. Certain foods. There is a study that discusses the relationship between POTS and gluten intolerance. Now, keep in mind that a gluten intolerance doesn’t mean celiac’s disease, but it does mean that your body may not be able to process gluten as efficiently. If you’re one of those “lucky” few you may need to be extra careful around certain foods. There’s also MCAS, or mast cell activation syndrome, which is essentially your body having an allergic reaction in a big way. It’s also common with people who have POTS, and it can also lead to flares when acting up. Your menstrual cycle. It’s really unfair. Not only that we have this curse, but also that it can make the most put together and healthy person fall down. Then add chronic illness. It’s not in your head. Your menstrual cycle when you have POTS and the natural ebb and flow of hormones during a month can definitely put you into a flare. Again, extra electrolytes like NormaLyte can potentially prevent your period from putting you into a flare. Caffeine. This is a hotly debated item in the world of POTS. Some say it’s the only thing that can get them through a day while others claim it’s the devil for their symptoms. But, it’s all up to your body. If you suspect that your daily cup of joe is causing your body to go whacko then maybe try eliminating it from your diet. We know that sounds painful too (it really does!), but knowing if caffeine is the thing putting you into a chronic illness flare can mean better days ahead. Alcohol. I know. We are not going to be popular by telling you to not only put down the coffee but to also put down your glass of wine. Alcohol is something that can dehydrate you. The more drinks you have the more urine output you’ll have as it’s a natural diuretic. There is a possibility that the one or two drinks you have tonight will affect you not only tomorrow but for the rest of the week. Weigh your choices carefully. And, if you do decide to imbibe be sure to have an electrolyte backup plan. What do I do about a chronic illness flare? Avoid the triggers. You may know additional triggers that can make your symptoms of POTS go into hyperdrive. Do what you can to avoid them all. Do it with the knowledge that you will not be able to prevent a flare. As mentioned above, flares are sometimes unavoidable. If you think you’re experiencing a chronic illness flare from POTS you may want to consider increasing your sodium intake. NormaLyte has been clinically proven to manage symptoms of POTS. Something other brands can’t say. Our Normalyte PURE was created in partnership with Dysautonomia International specifically for people with POTS. We know it will help if you can only give it a try.
Which of these shoes have you tried?
It’s October, which means it’s Dysautonomia Awareness Month! You’ve probably heard about Dysautonomia by now because I’ve been advocating and sharing infographics every October for years...
